Give Two Take None
by cc4s
Summary: The night Lily and James died, they gave two and took none. From heaven they reflect on their son's life and the people in it. Please R&R!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

**A/N: Thanks for reading this, please please please leave a review :)**

_Hi! My name is Lily Potter. There were many things that I learned during my short twenty one years of life. I learned of love, anger, hatred, fear, and so much more. One lesson that I have taken with me beyond life is the lesson of nobility; giving two and taking none. One day in particular stands out in which me, and my husband, my beloved, my James, gave two and took none. It was a day that pains me deeply, because I know that that day was the reason that I did not have the opportunity to raise my son. But still, it was a day that I will never regret as I lay watching over my son for all of eternity. It was the day I died._

* * *

James was in the living room, making puffs of smoke emerge from his wand for Harry's amusement.

Harry was clapping and giggling merrily. Lily smiled as she watched them, opening the door a crack. James and Harry. They were the essence of her life. The essence of her existence.

She hated to break up the beautiful scene but it was getting late and Harry had to get to bed soon.

"Harry, sweetheart," she cooed, "Mummy's going to put you to sleepy now."

James and Harry both pouted. She couldn't help but laugh at the identical expression on their faces.

Suddenly, their joy was interrupted.

Without any advance warning, the door burst open.

James sprinted down the hall. "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

Lily felt her blood run cold.

Him. Voldemort. He was here.

And he came for one purpose; for Lily's son.

Lily ran. She ran and she ran and she ran and only once she had reached the top of the second landing, when she could run no further, when Voldemort's finding her was inevitable, did she think.

James didn't even have a wand. Lily knew deep in her heart that there would be no "holding him off" for James. Her husband would be- No! She couldn't think like that! The dread would consume her. She could only focus on one thing at a time. Harry. Protecting Harry. She gulped. If by some slim chance, James survived she would rejoice later. If by some slim chance _she _survived but James didn't, she would mourn him later.

But now, the only person in the world that mattered to Lily Potter was the beautiful black haired baby boy she held tightly in her arms.

Suddenly, she felt her heart stop. She knew what had happened. She knew it in a way that could only come from loving a person so deeply. She could feel James leaving the Earth. She was alone.

She began to scream. Shrill, ear-piercing screams. She knew that Voldemort could hear her from downstairs. She knew he would be coming for her next. She didn't care on either front.

For now, death would be okay. If James was gone, what was the point in her living?

Harry was the point in her living of course. He had been the center of her life since the day she found out she was pregnant. She loved Harry more than anything else in the entire world. If Harry didn't survive this, she did not know what she would be do.

But that wasn't much cause for hyperventilating, even when the door opened to reveal Voldemort himself. Because, at that moment, there was not a doubt in her mind that Harry would come out alive. She didn't know how or how she knew. Motherly instincts perhaps? But she was sure that somehow Harry would make it out alive.

She didn't know how she would accomplish this though. Perhaps Voldemort would be merciful if she pleaded with him? She highly doubted it. But she had to try anyway.

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry." These words are what truly spiked the fear that this man would kill her son. How had she thought before that somehow he'd be saved?

"Stand aside, you silly girl . . . stand aside now."

She felt the hot, salty tears spilling down her cheeks. Tears for everyone. For her parents who had been killed a couple of years earlier. For her sister, Petunia, who had rejected her. For Sirius, Remus, and Peter (or Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail) who had become like brothers to her. For Mary, Alice, and Marlene who had been her best girlfriends back at Hogwarts. For Severus. She couldn't explain why at the moment which was surely her last on Earth, she shed tears for Severus, but she certainly did.

But mostly the tears were for James and Harry. Her brave strong man and her sweet little boy. The people who she loved more than anything.

"This is my last warning-"

Lily cried out in utter desperation, "Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-"

"Stand aside. Stand aside silly girl."

She refused. Refusal surely wouldn't help Harry. Her dying would not allow him to live. But there was no way in hell that she would just stand aside and watch this bastard kill her baby.

If, by some miracle, Harry survived, then her life will be accomplished. She will have saved her beloved son.

So she couldn't simply "stand aside."

A flash of green light.

She did not even hear the words being uttered.

* * *

**Lily awoke in James's arms.**

He was cradling her to him, a beam of delight upon his handsome face.

"James? What happened? Are we . . . are we . . . dead?"

James nodded, still beaming like a small child on Christmas.

She was scared to ask the next question. Scared of what the response would be. But she mustered up all of her courage and said, "and . . . and Harry . . .is he-"

James shook his head. Lily now knew what he was smiling about.

She felt the laughter return to her eyes. She beamed in delight, slamming her lips against his.

His hazel eyes were dancing.

"Our son is fine!" She exclaimed in euphoria, "he's alive!"

James nodded. "All thanks to you."

Lily was puzzled. James saw the expression on her face and explained.

"You know how Dumbledore always says that love is the most powerful thing in the world?"

Lily nodded.

"Well, it turns out . . . that that's true. Literally. Lily, your love for Harry was so intense when Voldemort tried to . . . you know. Kill him. That you died trying to save him, giving him all of the love in your heart, and providing a shield for him against Voldemort."

"Wow, that's, that's terrific!"

James nodded, "and it's all thanks to my beautiful little flower." He kissed her nose.

"James, can I ask you something?"

James chuckled, "have I ever denied you an answer?"

Lily continued, "how do you know all of this? About how Harry lived?"

"I had all of my questions answered too when I first you know . . . died. I saw him killing you. It was extremely painful for me to see, but I had to see it. I also saw him trying to kill Harry and just . . . disappearing."

"I guess we'll figure all of that out later. For now let's just be happy that our son is alive. That he's okay."

James kissed her once more, "I love you my little flower."

Lily broke away, "James, so you know if we can . . . see him?"

James nodded, and said excitedly, "We can watch over our son. We can see him grow up! We can see watch him, we can watch his life!" His voice faltered, "we just won't be a part of his life."

Lily smiled and said softly, "but we will. We won't physically there with him. But he'll always be able to know that we're here with him in spirit. He'll always know that we love him more than anything. He'll always know that we died for _him. _So that he could have a beautiful and happy life. Don't you see James? We'll always be with him."

James stroked her cheek, "that's why you're the smart one."

She laughed, and growing serious once again, said, "we did a good thing James."

"I know."

"We gave two and took none."

"Huh?"

"It's a little phrase I thought of a few weeks ago. I've been using it subconsciously in my mind. James we gave two. We gave up our lives. We gave up the chance to raise our son. Maybe that counts for more than two - I don't know - but the expression is just two. We did that and got nothing in return. Except of course, the life of our son, but though I like to think of that as a gift to _us_, it's really a gift to Harry. And we didn't even _take _that, we were so lucky as to be handed it on a silver platter - I just had to stand in front of his crib. So we gave two, and took none. And now we get to watch our son's life. We get to watch him grow up with Sirius. We get to watch him got to Hogwarts for the first time and make new friends. We get to watch him give two and take none."

"You're right, my little flower. We gave two and took none. Now we're going to be watching our son's life together. And I'll be holding your hand tight every time he says he misses his mum, and you'll do the same for me when he wishes he could see his real dad. Because we're a team. I love you Lily, forever and always."

"I love you too, James." She whispered. For the first time since Voldemort had opened the door to their little cottage in Godric's Hollow, Lily felt thoroughly relaxed."

* * *

_So that is the story of the day that I gave two and took none. In my years on Earth and years beyond (after death) I have come to see that there are eight kinds of people in this world - those who give none and take two, Those who give one and take two, those who give two and take two, those who give two and take one, those who give one and take one, those who give none and take one, those who give none and take none, those who give one and take none, and finally, those who give two and take none. This is a story about the people in my son's life who fit into varying categories, especially those who give two and take none, and how I watched them do it. This is a story about how I saw my son's story come into play, and how I learned about him, his life, and all those around him._


	2. Why My Sister?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

**A/N: Thank you so so so so so so much to daniellover1, ginnypotter7491, and revengerufus who reviewed chapter 1 :) :) :)**

**Also a very big thank you to History Maker 21730, daniellover1, and revengerufus who favorited this story and to KoolKidKlan and daniellover1 who are now following it!**

**I really appreciate all of it!**

* * *

_I was not sure whether to be excited or scared. Sirius surely was not fit to be a responsible parent for Harry, but he would definitely make her baby boy's life fun. Harry deserved to have some fun in his life. Remus would probably help Sirius raise him. He could be the responsible one. I was quite satisfied with this._

_But I did not get to see my son being brought to the house of my husband's very best friend. I watched in horror as he was brought into the house of my sister and her husband._

* * *

For the first time, Lily became aware of her beautiful surroundings.

"Where are we James?"

James blinked, "heaven. You didn't think we would go to _hell _did you? Not after we, to put it in your words, 'gave two and took none?'"

Lily giggled. "No, that's not what I meant. I meant - what's this room?"

The ceiling was her favorite shade of sky blue, with puffy white clouds dispersed throughout it. The rug was soft and fluffy and stark white. The chairs they sat on had comfortable red cushions, and were gold in color.

"It's amazing!" She exclaimed in wonder.

"I know." He beamed at her. "It's like our own personal heaven. You see, there are quidditch brooms over there - for my enjoyment. And a bookshelf over there," he pointed to the other side of the room. "For yours."

"I love it." She whispered and leaned in to his darling features. James took her face in his hands and began stroking her cheeks, before pulling her in and kissing her softly. He pulled away. "Oh and there's a nice comfy bed, you know, just in case we want to-"

"James Potter!" She slapped him across the face.

"Sorry Lily, I may have gotten carried away."

Lily laughed. "James, look!" They saw from below them a conversation taking place between two people whom they would recognize anywhere. But the fact that Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall had just concluded what appeared to be a very urgent and vital discussion was not what struck Lily as most odd. What was most odd to her was where they were standing.

She had only been to the house once, but still, she recognized it.

Lily knew who lived in number 4 Privet Drive, and she wondered what two people from the magical world (not at all blending in as muggles) could possibly be doing on Privet Drive in front of the house that belonged to none other than Lily's sister.

James too seemed to be confused, "isn't that Petunia's house?"

Lily nodded and James wrapped an arm around her.

"It's okay my little flower, maybe Dumbledore just wanted to tell her that we . . . that we . . . died." His voice dropped to a sweet sounding whisper, "because she is your sister after all my little flower. She has the right to know."

Lily nodded again but she could feel the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Deep down, she knew that it was something more. And she knew that deep down, James knew it too.

He pulled her in closer to his chest. "It's going to be okay Lily. Whatever happens, he's going to get through it. I mean, he faced Voldemort and survived didn't he?"

"He did." Lily said, taking a deep breath. "He did." She repeated, "he's going to be okay."

"Look," James raised his hand gently. Hagrid had arrived with baby Harry in his arms.

Lily's heart swelled at the sight of her little boy sleeping deeply. "I love you Harry." She whispered, a single tear falling down her cheek. She looked at James and saw that his face mimicked hers.

"I love you Harry." He whispered.

Harry's sleeping form did not stir. Of course he didn't. The people down on earth couldn't possibly hear what James and Lily were saying from up here.

Suddenly something else occurred to Lily, "is that Sirius's bike?"

"Yeah," said James. "He probably lent it to Hagrid."

Lily and James watched in horror as Albus Dumbledore cradled their little Harry in his arms before placing him on her sister's doorstep with just a note. A note! He didn't even stick around to explain.

They watched as their headmaster clicked his deluminator and sucked up all the light on the street, turned on his heel and apparated, leaving baby Harry alone on the doorstep.

* * *

Lily could hear Petunia's shrill shriek a few hours later, when she opened up the door to find her nephew sleeping soundly at her doorstep.

Petunia picked Harry up and brought him inside.

Lily noticed that the shriek was the first thing that she had heard so far from her son's life. Until then, she had just been watching. It had been just eyes. Now ears could do their part too.

"Did you notice that-"

"We only heard your sister screaming? Yeah I did."

"That's odd? Do you know why?"

James shook his head, "not a clue."

Suddenly, Lily couldn't take it anymore. The tears were spilling down her nose before she could even register what was happening.

She buried her face in James's shirt.

"It's okay my little flower." He whispered. "It's going to be okay." He stroked her dark red hair affectionately.

"But, but, but. My _sister_ did not give two and take none. My sister gave one and took two."

James seemed puzzled. Lily explained. "She gave one. She took him in. But she took two also. Because there's no doubt in my mind that any chance she gets she's going to be calling our son 'freak' and she's going to take _pleasure _in it. She's going to actually _enjoy _it. And it's going to give her and that atrocious husband of hers a chance to complain. There _always _looking for things to complain about - for people to take pity on them and realize 'how much they sacrifice.' And so she gave one. She took our son in. But she took two. She took the opportunity to make his life miserable."

"I know my little flower, I know." The tears were now falling from his face onto her hair.

"I know what it feels like to be teased by her for having magic. And now our son is going to have to go through that too."

James did not speak for a while.

Finally, once Lily had composed herself once again, she took four deep, calming breaths, inhaling and exhaling. Inhaling and exhaling. Inhaling and exhaling. Inhaling and exhaling.

"Can we leave this room James?" She asked after some time.

He shrugged his shoulders, "that's a good question my little flower, I just don't know. I never asked when I first came here and had the opportunity to." He looked down.

"James?"

James looked up at her again. "Who answered your questions when you first arrived?"

"My father." Said James.

Lily smiled and stood up, pulling him out of the seat too.

"Where are we going?" His hazel colored eyes were full of excitement and wonder.

"Well, if we don't know whether or not we can leave, what better way to find out than opening the door."

James looked confused at first, then he shrugged. Lily supposed he had not seen the door before. She hadn't either. Maybe that was part of the Room of Requirement type room - when they thought of leaving the room, a method of doing so was granted.

They reached the brass double doors. Engraved upon them was a single sentence: _The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death._

"What?"

"It's what's written on our graves."

"How did you know?"

"My father told me."

"That's so beautiful!"

"What does it mean?" He asked.

Lily couldn't help but laugh at that. "You mean your father told you what was written on your gravestone and you didn't even bother to ask what it means?"

James defended himself, "well I didn't think it had any important meaning until you said that it was beautiful . . ."

Lily rolled her eyes. "It's talking about conquering death as in living beyond death. Living after death. And, most of all, having our son still alive to remind us that our death was not in vain. To remind ourselves that love goes beyond death. Love conquers everything. Even death."

"That is beautiful," whispered James. He kissed her cheek delicately before opening the brass doors and discovering that they could, in fact, exit the room.

* * *

_On that day, I saw that my sister did not give two and take none as James and I had. She gave one and took two. Two for herself, and only one for Harry. But at least she took him in. At least she gave one. Because she did not have to. And Harry would get through this. He was so strong. I knew he was. Already, even having only known him for a little over a year I could tell how strong he was. I knew that he was special. I knew that he could get through this. And I hoped beyond hopes that he knew that I loved him forever and always. That I would gladly give two (or five or ten or a billion) and take none for him. And most of all, I hoped beyond hopes that he knew that I was watching over him and always would be._

* * *

__**A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Don't forget to leave a REVIEW - it would make me so happy :) :) :)**


	3. Visits and a Look Into the Early Years

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

**A/N: Thanks so much to lightning-lion7, georgeweasleyluver4eva, daniellover1, and ginnypotter7491 for reviewing the previous chapter!**

* * *

James and Lily walked along down what seemed to be a never-ending bed of clouds. Along the two walls were names.

Upon emerging from their little room, they were surrounded by labels of people that they had once know.

The first one that stood out to Lily was labeled "Evans," and in parenthesis ("Mum and Dad.) Lily assumed that the parenthesis would appear differently to everyone who read it as they were only _her _mother and father.

She let a small tear droplet spill down her cheek unashamedly. She had not seen her parents since their death more than three years earlier.

Lily pulled James along as they walked on and on until they reached the brass door of Lily's parents. Ever so gently she knocked on the door before pulling it open.

"Mum? Dad?" She whispered.

Her parents turned around from where they had been seated. "Oh, honey . . ."

Her mother stood up and enveloped her and James in a bone-crushing hug. Her father soon joined.

"I-I've m-m-missed you s-so much," she stuttered through the tears now pouring rapidly from her eyes.

"We've missed you too Lily. But we're together now, and that's all that matters."

Lily broke apart and wiped away her tears. "I know." She said.

And that was great. For her. But what about Harry?

"You did the right thing sweetheart." Her mother seemed to have read her mind. "Petunia will take care of Harry."

Lily shrugged.

"She loves you Lily." Whispered Mrs. Evans. Mr. Evans nodded. "She may not show it to you. But we've been watching both of you girls ever since our death and I know she does. When she heard that you had been killed she was devastated."

Lily smiled a little sadly.

"She'll take care of Harry."

Lily shrugged.

"And we'll take care of you," added Mr. Evans. "We're still a family, even beyond death."

Lily smiled genuinely this time and said, "I love you Mum. Dad." Before leaving with James.

As they left the room Lily glanced at the writing on the large brass door. She already knew what it would say, but she had to look at it again anyway.

Petunia had chosen it, not consulting Lily, but she had seen it whenever she visited her parents' graves. _A family's love lasts even beyond its hatred._

Lily smiled. When she had first seen it upon her parents' graves a couple of years ago she had thought that Petunia was sending her the message that she wanted to be real sisters again. Of course, Petunia had continually shunned her even afterwards, so the quote must not have been talking about Lily.

She didn't know how Petunia would treat Harry. And she, unlike her parents, was pretty sure it wouldn't be too well.

But her son was alive.

He had a place to live.

So maybe Petunia didn't _entirely _hate Lily after all. Maybe there was one shred of love still there. Lily certainly hoped so.

James wrapped an arm around her and they ventured out to the hallway of clouds.

On and on they walked - but they never tired. In fact, it was almost as if they were floating on air, not walking on a solid surface.

On they walked until James found the door he seemed to have been looking for. It was labeled "Potter." This door too had the words ("Mum and Dad,") in parenthesis.

James reached for the door. Before entering he said to Lily, "we don't have to stay long; I've already seen them. I just have a question to ask."

"James dear, back already?" Asked James's mother.

"Hi Mum. I just have a question for Dad."

Mrs. Potter motioned for him to enter.

"And hello Lily dear." Dorea Potter gave her a kind smile and gentle hug, both of which she returned graciously.

"Dad?" James questioned his father.

He looked up from where he had been studying _Quidditch Through the Ages_ and greeted his son, welcoming Lily to heaven.

"So anyway." James continued. "Lily and I have been watching Harry's life so far."

His father nodded as if to say "go on."

"And well, we didn't hear most of what was going on - only saw it. Until Lily's sister screamed because . . . well it's a long story. But basically, that's all we heard."

Charlus chuckled. "That's an easy one James. We've all experienced it. I don't even need to hear the the full story. The reason why you only started hearing what was going on at a certain point is that up until then was the section of Harry's life that you were a part of. The part that you heard and will continue to hear from now on and for the rest of his life, is a new chapter in his life. One that you are _not _a part of, even if he is thinking of you."

Lily looked down. "Oh," she whispered.

James dragged Lily out from the room. As they exited she glanced up at the door, upon it was written. _Where dwell the brave at heart._ Lily smiled o herself. She remembered fondly (though she had felt the complete opposite of fondness towards it at the time) how the first time she met (and hated) James on the Hogwarts Express he had said he wanted to be in Gryffindor where dwell the brave at heart just like his father.

He must have picked out the quote.

"Shall we return?" James asked calmly.

"Soon," she replied. "There's just one more person I want to visit first.

Lily walked on until she found the name. James followed.

She reached the door labeled, "McKinnon. (Friend.)" and opened it ever so slightly.

"Lily?" Called a familiar voice from inside.

"Marlene?"

Lily entered the room. "Lily!"

"Marlene!"

Marlene launched herself into Lily's arms, waving at James.

"I've missed you," Lily mumbled into her friend's shoulder.

"I've missed you too Lily." Marlene looked away. "I'm sorry you had to . . . die for us to see each other again. But I've really needed a girlfriend again."

Lily smiled warmly.

"I think we should go now Lils. I wouldn't want to miss too much of our son's life," James whispered.

Lily nodded and gave Marlene one more fleeting hug before following James as he quickly hurried back to their little heaven, not even having time to glance back at Marlene's door and see the quote that she knew would be there as she had visited her friend's grave twice and had helped pick it out. _Friendship can go on without life but life cannot go on without friendship._ Lily grinned fondly. She remembered sitting with Mary MacDonald and Alice Longbottom crying their hearts out and deciding that that saying was the right one for Marlene's gravestone.

Lily couldn't help but think of Severus every time she heard that phrase. He was not dead and their friendship had not survived even when they were both alive so it wasn't very fitting for their relationship but she couldn't help but think of him anyway.

Lily and James returned to their little heaven (she liked that name for it) and sat down; James on one of the plush red cushions of one of the golden chairs and Lily on his lap.

And they watched.

Lily watched in horror for the first four years as Harry was poked and prodded by his cousin Dudley. How her _sister_ and her husband didn't do anything to stop it. How Harry had barely enough clothes to wear and not a single toy to play with while Dudley was positively showered with gifts and goodies.

She watched and she screamed and she yelled and she cried, and James tried to stay strong for her and hold her and comfort her. But sometimes he would snap. Sometimes he would feel the need to scream and yell and cry, a need he couldn't repress.

But they got through it.

And then at age five he showed his first accidental magic. Lily was so incredibly proud of him. He was only _five._

She saw James beaming and could feel herself doing the same as the many pieces of bacon Dudley was given to eat for breakfast flew up into the air and smacked him in the face after he had angered Harry by stealing his breakfast cereal.

Dudley ran screaming from the room, but Lily watched, horrified at what happened next.

Vernon grabbed Harry and sharply through him into the little cupboard under the stairs.

"Freak!" Petunia spat.

Vernon locked up the cupboard and told Petunia that Harry would have to sleep in there from now on. Petunia said that she wholeheartedly agreed.

Lily was positively seething in rage at this. James stood up and started pacing the room, fuming in anger.

Lily felt the tears falling down her cheeks and nose.

James's face was equally wet.

"Harry." Lily whispered in anguish.

James punched the air, "if that bastard does one more thing to hurt my son . . ."

Lily swallowed her tears. For once she would have to be the one to comfort James.

"He'll get through it James," she said softly, stroking his cheek. "He's going to be fine," she added, though she knew it was all just empty words.

James nodded and they sat down again.

And watched.

They watched in horror and pain and fury as Harry grew up receiving no presents for his birthdays and Christmas, being forced to wear hand-me-down clothes of Dudley's that were way too big on him, being teased in school for not having parents and for being as Dudley had told them all "a freak," and getting in trouble for episodes of accidental magic which he had no control over.

They shed many more tears over the next few years. They had many more outbursts of anger. They comforted each other. They fed off of each other's strength. And they tried to get through it.

The whole time they kept telling themselves that soon Petunia and Vernon would tell Harry about his being a wizard. They didn't.

Lily burst into tears every time she expected an explanation of hers and James's deaths to be coming that never came.

One day after an experience like this one she whispered to James, "I thought she was my sister."

James didn't answer but Lily answered her own question in her head. _I guess I thought wrong._

* * *

_We watched; me and James. Watched as my sister (or the woman who I thought was my sister, she obviously feels differently) gave none and took two - of all amounts to give and take! We watched as my son was tormented and treated awfully for 10 years. _10 years! _And it was torture to us. Because our son was in pain - our son was suffering. And all we could do was watch._

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading this! Please please please please please please please leave a review!**


	4. A Severe Case of Accidental Magic

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

**A/N: Thanks soooooooo much to ginnypotter7491, HPlover73180, Guest, and daniellover1 for reviewing the previous chapter! Here's the next one, I hope you like it :)**

* * *

James and Lily sat side by side holding hands one day, as they watched their son's life play out from that particular morning.

"Up! Get Up! Now!" James growled at how Petunia arose their son. Lily felt the familiar sensation of her teeth clenching in anger whenever she heard her sister or brother-in-law woke Harry up in such a harsh manner. Or made him sleep in the cupboard under the stairs (which was every night as that was his designated room). Or treated him in any such harsh manner, (so basically every minute of every hour of every day).

"Up!" Petunia shrieked once again. "Are you up yet?" She questioned shrilly half a second later.

"Nearly," Harry replied from inside the cupboard.

Lily couldn't help the broad smile tugging at her lips. The same one that she always felt at the sound of her son's voice.

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."

Harry groaned and Lily narrowed her eyes.

"What did you say?" Petunia snapped.

"Nothing, nothing ..."

Harry pushed himself out of bed and picked a spider off one of of a pair of socks before placing them both on his feet.

Harry dressed and entered the kitchen.

James rolled his eyes at the enormous pile of presents Dudley had received for his birthday.

"Comb your hair!" Vernon barked entering the room while Harry flipped the bacon.

"Lose some weight!" James retorted angrily though obviously, Vernon could not hear him.

Harry found some tiny spots that weren't filled with one of Dudley's birthday presents and set the plates of eggs and bacon down there. Nearby, Dudley was counting his presents. "Thirty-six," he exclaimed with a pointed look at his parents. "That's two less than last year."

James stroked Lily's long red hair softly, causing them both to miss the next few remarks.

Lily forced a smile.

"Aw, come on my little flower," James joked in an attempt to cheer her up, "at least Harry didn't turn out to be a fat brat. At least he's not the spoiled rotten son of a walrus."

"Yeah," said Lily, "instead he's the sweet and brave little orphan who doesn't even know that he has magical abilities, and doesn't even know how the parents who love him more than anything died."

"That's true my little flower," Lily loved the fact that he tried to remain optimistic, "but at least he's sweet and brave."

"And he's-"

"How about this sweetheart. Instead of just naming our son's attributes, why don't we continue watching and see how he's doing."

Lily nodded. "You're right. I'm being silly," she smiled. "And anyway, what good is it going to do being sad about it from way up here."

"Exactly."

Lily pressed her lips against his fleetingly before returning to the scene.

They had missed part of the conversation, but it was pretty evident what was happening.

"I . . . don't . . . want . . . him . . . t-t-to come!" Dudley wailed fraudulently from within his mother's tight embrace. "He always sp-spoils everything!" Lily did not miss the nasty grin he shot Harry through an opening in Petunia's arms.

The doorbell rang. "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" Dudley's best friend (and - James punched the air at Lily's mention of it - partner for hitting Harry).

Piers and Dudley would be taking a trip to the zoo in honor of Dudley's birthday. As the Dursleys had been unable to make other arrangements, Harry was permitted to go too.

Lily felt her eyes welling up with tears. This would be the first time in the entire ten years that he lived with them that the Dursleys were permitting Harry to come along to do something fun.

Right before they left, Vernon pulled Harry aside. "I'm warning you," he stuck his face right in Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."

Lilt winced. She hated the fact that Harry's only living relatives didn't even bother to address him by name.

"I'm not going to do anything, honestly." The look Harry gave them was so innocent and sincere. Lily hoped nothing would happen. But Harry couldn't possibly control it if he had a sudden outburst of accidental magic. Petunia knew about Harry being a wizard. She knew that nothing that happened was ever his fault. Yet she continued to blame and punish him whenever episodes of accidental magic occurred.

James and Lily watched as he entered the car with Dudley and Piers whose rat-like face sneered at him.

"Honestly, why can't there be just one kind person in his life?" Lily grumbled. James didn't bother responding.

From the driver's seat, Vernon was rambling on and on about motorcycles and the maniacs who rode them.

James bowed his head silently and Lily knew he was thinking of Sirius.

Lily had started thinking about him too. Where was Sirius all these years? Why was it not him, but Petunia and Vernon who had been given the task of raising Harry? Why didn't her little boy get to at least meet his godfather if he couldn't know his parents?

Harry's face perked up from the car. "I had a dream about a motorcycle, it was flying."

James sighed and Lily winced in anticipation of Vernon's response. They both knew of his strong aversion towards anything remotely supernatural.

"MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"

"I wouldn't bet on that Dursley," James said raising an eyebrow. Lily laughed.

"If only Padfoot and I had went through with that plan we had hatched the first time I met your sister and her husband to fill their entire house with dragon dung." James shook his head as if reprimanding himself.

Lily laughed. "If only," she agreed lightheartedly.

They must have missed the rest of the conversation and car ride because before they knew it, Vernon's car was pulling into the zoo parking lot, and the Dursleys, Harry, and Piers joined the many families bustling around the zoo on that bright sunny Sunday morning.

Vernon and Petunia bought Dudley and Piers each a large chocolate ice cream at the cart at the entrance and when the kind looking lady working there (finally, a smiling face)asked Harry what he would like they ordered him a cheap lemon ice pop which he seemed to enjoy.

Lily smiled as she saw what fun Harry seemed to be having. He appeared to be entertained by the many animal exhibits. He always kept at safe distance from the others which James deemed to be a "very wise move."

They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley threw a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory did not have enough ice cream on top, Vernon bought him another one and Harry was permitted to finish the first.

After lunch they entered the reptile house.

Dudley quickly located and approached the largest snake there.

It was fast asleep.

"Looks like Sirius before noon on a Sunday doesn't it?" James whispered in Lily's ear. She giggles. Then felt a pang of nostalgia. She missed their friend.

"I miss him too," said James as though reading her thoughts, "more than you can possibly imagine."

Dudley seemed annoyed with the snake. "Make it move," he commanded his father.

Vernon tapped lightly on the glass. The snake did not move. He rapped it a little more forcefully with his knuckles. The snake retained its state of deep slumber.

"This is boring," Dudley wined.

Harry looked intensely into the tank.

Harry looked around then turned back to the snake. He winked at the creature. That was odd.

Lily looked at James, puzzled. He shrugged. "No idea what that was about."

"Do you think someone else up here might know?"

James shook his head. "This is something about Harry's actual life, not just about what we see or hear from up here."

"That's too bad."

Her husband nodded.

"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" Piers's shout drew their attention back to the reptile house.

Dudley came waddling towards them at top speed.

James laughed at the sight of that, "this kid really needs to lose some weight."

"Out of the way, you," he cast Harry aside. Harry fell hard onto the concrete floor.

"And gain some manners," he added darkly.

Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass tank.

Suddenly they leapt back with cries of fear. Harry's eyes widened and he gasped audibly. The glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.

"Wow." Lily exclaimed. "That's some powerful accidental magic."

The snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor.

People throughout the reptile house let out shrieks and darted towards the exit.

"That was cool!" James beamed.

"Yes, but one of those innocent muggles could have gotten hurt," Lily countered, feeling a tad guilty for pronouncing in awe that Harry's magic was already proving to be very strong.

James shrugged, "I suppose that would be rather awful."

The zoo director himself made petunia a cup of calming tea apologizing repeatedly.

Lily was pretty sure the snake had not actually done any harm to Piers or Dudley besides giving them a tremendous scare, but by the time they had all piled back into the car, Dudley was relating to the others how it had nearly bitten his leg off, and Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.

Of course the whole situation would just _have _to turn on Harry, and so Piers managed to calm down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you Harry?"

The result of that was one that James and Lily were more than unhappy with.

Once Piers had been picked up by his mother, Vernon rounded on Harry. "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," he spluttered in fury. He collapsed into a chair, and Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.

Harry returned to his dark, cramped cupboard, where he lay for the hours to come, until the Dursleys were all fast asleep and he snuck into the kitchen for some food.

"Ridiculous!" Lily shouted.

James nodded his agreement.

"It's ridiculous how he's forced to live in that little cupboard. How he has to _sneak out_ to feed himself, otherwise he gets no meals."

"Totally ridiculous," James agreed, "just wait until he gets to Hogwarts. Those are going to be seven amazing years. I can feel it."

* * *

_So they took two and gave none again. All of them; Vernon, Petunia, Dudley and Piers. They all took whatever they wanted. Dudley having thirty-six birthday presents and being able to complain about that and getting away with it, while Harry has barely ever gotten a qualifying birthday present in the ten years he's lived with them. Vernon and Petunia got to shut him up in that cupboard with no meals. They got to treat him as a burden and express their "superiority." And Piers got to go have a fun day at the zoo and ruin Harry's whole day by telling Vernon that Harry was "talking" to the snake. I guess all I can say is that I'm glad it's already Dudley's eleventh birthday; Harry is a little over a month younger so his birthday is almost here. He should find out about the fabulous magical world to which he belongs soon enough. I can hardly wait._

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so mcuh for reading! Please please please please please please please don't forget to leave a review :) :) :)**


	5. A Deluge of Letters and a Crazed Escape

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

**A/N: Thank you so much to Loves to read books, Books are air, I-JUST-LOST-THE-GAME, daniellover1, Anonymous, lightning-lion7, and alix33 for reviewing the previous chapter!**

**And also to the anonymous reviewer Anonymous: First of all thanks so much for reviewing, I'm so glad to know your opinion. Now, I am very sorry if its confusing with all of the taking and giving stuff but its really just a symbolic way of showing how people either give up everything, something, or nothing, and take either everything, something or nothing. As for the "their" problem, thank you SO much for noticing that and pointing it out and I am so sorry about that. I have gone back and fixed it.**

**So here's the next chapter, I hope you like it :)**

_Finally, finally, finally, something happened that made us smile. It was Harry's first correspondence from Hogwarts and for some reason that gave us a warm feeling inside and calmed our nerves slightly._

_**xoxoxoxo**_

Lily and James watched in anguish from their helpless spot on their favorite plush golden arm chairs in their little heaven as Harry was forced to remain inside his cupboard until the summer holidays in punishment for what he had "done."

When the holidays arrived it allowed Harry some relief from his tormenting in school, but not much as Dudley's gang of extremely large boys who probably all had IQs numbering in the single digits visited the Dursley household every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon all looked up to Dudley and considered him to be their leader.

Dudley was going to be going to Smeltings, the private school which Vernon had attended. One warm July day, Petunia brought Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform and Harry was left in the care of Mrs. Figg, an old lady who lived across the street from the Dursleys.

Harry was often sent to stay with Mrs. Figg when the Dursleys went out. Every time this happened, James insisted that he certainly knew her from somewhere and that there had even been a man with the surname Figg whom his father had been friends with when James was a kid.

Lily told him all these times that this was impossible as Mrs. Figg obviously had no magic and if she _did_ have some sort of connection with the Wizarding World, chances are she would have told Harry about it.

This time Harry stayed with her she had gotten rid of all of her cats, (Previously, she had forced him to look at pictures upon pictures of them whenever he would come over.) because she had tripped over one of them and broken her leg (only to be run over by Dudley the first time he rode his racing bike as she hobbled along on her crutches). She let Harry watch television and gave him a slice of chocolate cake that he did not seem to be enjoying very much but seemed to be trying very hard to hide his grimace. The cake had been a very nice gesture at least even if it was not particularly scrumptious.

That evening when Petunia and Dudley returned, Dudley pranced around the living room clad in his brand new Smeltings uniform which consisted of maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. The Smeltings boys carried knobbly sticks used, according to Vernon, for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking, which was supposed to be good training for later life. Lily got a funny feeling that Dudley would put that stick to good use while at home. At least when Harry was around.

Petunia became choked up at the sight of Dudley in his uniform, exclaiming how she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up.

Lily rolled her eyes and James laughed. "At least Harry's life is very entertaining."

The next morning Harry entered the kitchen for breakfast to find a large metal tub in the sink filled with dirty rags swimming in gray water.

"What's this?" he asked.

Petunia drew her lips closer together. "Your new school uniform." Harry, at least according to the Dursleys, was going to be attending Stonewall High, the local public school next year.

"Oh, I didn't realize it had to be so wet."

Lily giggled.

"Don't be stupid," Petunia spat. "I'm dyeing dome of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."

Dudley and Vernon joined Harry and Petunia in the kitchen.

Vernon flipped open his newspaper and Dudley smacked the table with his Smelting stick.

The mail slot clicked and the letters fell onto the doormat with a swish.

"Get the mail, Dudley," Vernon said mechanically.

"Well that's a first," James said raising his eyebrows.

"Make Harry get it." Dudley seemed offended that he had been asked to do something.

"Get the mail, Harry."

"Well that is certainly _not _a first," James corrected himself.

"Actually, I think this might be the first time in ten years that Vernon called Harry by his name."

James pulled Lily's face into his and pressed his lips against hers. Lily pushed back and gently traced circles on James's face and down his neck.

"What was that for," Lily asked after pulling away. She could feel her cheeks filling with color.

"Why it was a celebratory kiss of course!"

"Huh?"

"In celebration of Vernon asking Dudley to do something (well, he didn't wind up doing it in the end, but that's besides the point) and calling Harry by his first name."

"Okay then," Lily shrugged. "I supposed that's a cause for celebration."

Harry had now returned to the kitchen staring, mesmerized at the letter in his hand.

"James!" Lily smacked her husband on the arm, half irritated, half amused.

"What? What'd I do?" He put his hands up in surrender.

"You see that letter in Harry's hand?" She did not wait for James's response before continuing. "That's obviously his Hogwarts letter."

James opened his mouth to speak but Lily shushed him, shaking her head. "I mean he's never gotten a letter before in his life so he obviously doesn't have some sort of pen pal, and he's staring at the seal on the envelope and the address as if he's never even _seen _a letter before, which we know he has because we've seen him getting the mail every day of his life for the past six years. So, in conclusion."

James chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Honestly Lily, enough with the formalities.

Lily ignored him. "As I was saying. In conclusion, you, James Potter are the reason that we missed the very moment when our beloved son first picked his Hogwarts acceptance letter up off of the floor of my not-so-dear sisters humble abode." She tapped her foot impatiently.

James laughed lazily. Then he cleared his throat. "I, James Potter, express my sincerest apologies to you, the beautiful and most amazing Lily Evans Potter upon causing both you and myself, to miss this most important moment in our lives. Er, deaths."

"Thank you Mr. Potter." She did a little curtsey before returning to watch Harry's life play out.

"I love you my little flower," James whispered in her ear.

"I love you too James," Lily said out loud. "Very, very much. And I would greatly appreciate it if you, my love, were to let me see how life is down there for the wonderful human being that we created."

James nodded, "yeah, good times. Good times."

When they looked back, Harry was in his cupboard. Lily assumed that Petunia and Vernon had seen the address on the letter and sent him there immediately.

Vernon managed (barely) to squeeze through the cupboard door.

"Where's my letter? Who's writing to me?" Harry asked immediately.

"No one. It was addressed to you by mistake. I have burned it." Vernon's voice was plain and abrupt.

"It was _not _a mistake, it had my cupboard on it."

"SILENCE!" Vernon's bellow shook the room. He inhaled and exhaled sharply four times before contorting his face into a very forced looking smile.

"Er - yes, Harry-"

"That's twice so far," James muttered. "I think I'm going to keep count of all the times he ever calls Harry by his first name."

"You do that," Lily whispered back. She loved James and his random ideas like this.

"Don't ask questions!" Vernon was screaming. "Take this stuff upstairs now."

Harry gathered all of his belongings into his arms and dragged it upstairs into the room that had previously been used to hold all the toys that could not fit in Dudley's first bedroom.

"Well that was odd," said James, confused. "They just let him move into an actual bedroom."

Lily shook her head. "Don't think it was out of the goodness of their hearts. There just scared now that they're sure he's a wizard and has been accepted to Hogwarts that he'll turn them all into raccoons or something."

"Too bad, I thought I might have been sensing a change of heart."

"You thought wrong," Lily said simply with a sigh.

When they looked back, Dudley was in the middle of a tantrum for losing his second room, but was, for the first time in his life, denied it, and the Dursleys and Harry went to sleep.

The next morning as Dudley came down the stairs for breakfast (banging his Smelting stick everywhere he stepped) he shouted, looking at the mail, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive -"

Vernon cut him off with an exasperated yelp. While Vernon attempted to pin Dudley down to get the letter, Harry grabbed him around the neck from behind. Eventually after about a minute of baffled fighting on the floor, Vernon emerged, gasping for breath and holding the letter out in his hand like a trophy.

"Go to your cupboard - I mean, your bedroom," he spluttered in Harry's general direction. "Dudley - go - just go."

Upstairs in his new room, Harry paced back and forth, deep in thought for some time before heading off to bed, seemingly satisfied with some sort of plan he had just come up with.

Upon the ring of his alarm at six o'clock the next morning, Harry arose and dressed silently, careful not to wake the Dursleys snoring in their beds.

He tiptoed down the steps and across the dark hall toward the front door -

"AAAAARRRGH!"

Harry leapt back. Only then did Lily see that he had stepped right onto Vernon's fat, squishy face.

"I want -" he began but Vernon, who had evidently already gotten to the letter, was tearing it to pieces as he spoke.

Vernon spent the rest of that day nailing up the mail slot.

"See," he explained to Petunia, "if they can't _deliver_ them they'll just give up."

"Hogwarts never _gives up _on any of its students," James exclaimed loudly, his disgust with Vernon's estimation of Hogwarts's abilities and determination or lack thereof apparent on his face.

"I'm not sure that'll work Vernon." Petunia's voice was more timid than usual.

"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," Vernon was now trying to knock in a nail with a piece of fruitcake Petunia had just bought him.

Meanwhile, next to Lily, James, who seconds ago had seemed solemn and agitated, was now grinning, his eyes dancing with amusement. "Wow, Lily, these people are _hilarious. _Though I think Vernon's sanity might be questionable at this point."

"I agree," Lily smirked.

On Friday, a dozen letters arrived for Harry, pushing their way through the sides of the house, under the door, and even through the window in the downstairs bathroom.

Once again, Vernon did not attend his job at Grunnings, this time spending the day to burn all of the letters, after which he got out a hammer and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out, humming "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" all the while, alert for small noises.

On Saturday the letter count was doubled. Twenty-four letters arrived at Number 4 Privet Drive from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry addressed to Harry, hidden inside each of two-dozen eggs that a bewildered milkman handed Petunia through the living room window. Meanwhile, Vernon shouted (one of his favorite activities) over the phone to the post office workers and the people of the dairy.

Petunia gathered all of the letters and shredded them all in her food processor.

"Who on Earth wants to talk to _you _this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.

"I'm sure a lot of people would actually," Lily reasoned. "Him being the Boy Who Lived and all."

"Oh right, I had forgotten about that."

They had not known of this title of their son's until a chat with Marlene a few weeks after they arrived. She had informed them both of this which made Lily fill with pride, and of how she had seen Frank and Alice Longbottom tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange, to which Lily had broken down with tears and which still, ten years later, brought a wave of unbearable pain over her. Alice had been one of the best friends she ever had. She and Frank certainly didn't deserve that.

She had almost forgotten about Harry's status as "The Boy Who Lived," after all these years of him being addressed by Vernon as just "Boy," or "You," but she now remembered this once again and tried to blink back the tears when it reminded her of Alice and how she was now forced to live in a special ward at St. Mungo's.

James kissed away the tears now spilling down her face, sensing to where her thoughts had traveled. "It's okay my little flower. Just think of Harry and how great his life's going to get soon. Maybe he'll befriend her son, Norbert was it? Nathan?"

"Neville." Lily responded quietly, "his name is Neville."

"Right, well I bet Harry and Neville will be great friends."

Lily nodded. "I wonder if he's just as klutzy as her?"

James shrugged and moved his lips towards her mouth.

She returned the kiss with a burning passion for him. Her love. Her one and only. Her James.

The next morning, (Sunday) Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.

"No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today -"

Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as the words came tumbling out of his mouth and smacked into him sharply on the back of the head. The letters kept on coming. Ten, twenty, forty.

The Dursleys ducked to avoid being pelted by incoming letters, but Harry jumped up into the air, trying to catch one.

"Just pick one up off the ground Harry!" James shouted in frustration, despite knowing that Harry could not hear him.

"Out! OUT!" Vernon was outraged.

He seized Harry from around the waist and threw him into the hall. When the other two Dursleys had run out with their arms over their faces, Vernon slammed the door shut. The letters were still zooming into the room through the window.

"That does it," Vernon was trying to control himself and speak calmly, but yanking strands of his mustache out at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"

Ten minutes later, they had all piled into the car, zooming down the highway at top speed, a bruised (Vernon had hit him on the head for holing them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag) Dudley sniffling from the back seat, and a crazed Vernon muttering "shake 'em off . . . shake 'em off" as he twisted and turned down the highways and roads.

They drove on and on without stopping to eat or drink or even use the bathroom (as James had pointed out in amusement, though Lily did not know what was so funny about that).

By the time night fell, Dudley had had it. He was hungry and tired and had missed five television programs he'd wanted to see. In addition, he had gone more than a full twenty-four hours without blowing up an alien on his computer.

Vernon, ignoring his son, drove on until at last, he stopped outside a dismal little hotelon the outskirts of some far away big city.

Dudley and Harry were put together into a room, each with their own twin bed with musty sheets.

Dudley snored on all night long, while Harry sat by the windowsill, unable to sleep, gazing down at the lights of passing cars from below him.

The next morning brought a visitor to the the Dursleys' hotel room; the hotel owner came over to their table at breakfast. "Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."

Sure enough, she held up an envelope identical to the many that Harry had received at home.

Harry lifted his hand to take the letter but Vernon snatched it away before he could. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"I'll take them," Vernon said hurriedly, rising and following her out of the dining room.

Hours later, sitting back in the car, Petunia whispered in a small voice, "wouldn't it be better just to go home dear?"

Vernon did not respond, a crazed fire was now burning in his eyes. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, shook his head silently, and drove on again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge and at the top of a multilevel parking garage until finally he parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared.

"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Petunia, his eyes wide with worry. Petunia did not answer.

Raindrops began falling from the sky, drumming on the roof of the car.

Dudley sniffed. "It's Monday," he whined. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a _television."_

"Classic," James scoffed.

But Lily was glad that Dudley had remembered the day of the week. Because she knew that that particular Monday just so happened to be July 30, one day before Harry's eleventh birthday.

Vernon returned now smiling and looking much calmer. He was carrying a long, thin package and refused to tell Petunia what it was.

"That can't be good," Lily muttered under her breath.

"Found the perfect place!" He called, "Come On! Everyone out!"

Harry shivered from the cool outside air.

Vernon was gesturing enthusiastically towards a tiny run-down hovel perched on top of a very large rock out at sea.

"Storm forecast for tonight! And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!" Vernon was dancing with glee and relief.

A raggedy old man came limping towards them, pointing a shaky finger at an rickety old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.

"I've already got us some rations," said Vernon, "so all aboard!"

Harry's and Dudley's teeth chattered slightly and Lily frowned.

Finally, they reached the giant rock where Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down two room house.

Vernon's rations consisted of a bag of chips each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire in the damp and empty fireplace using a match and the empty chip bags but the newly lit chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.

"Could do with some of those letters now eh?" he said cheerfully.

Just as Vernon had said, nightfall brought a violent storm which blew all around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows.

Petunia scoured for some musty blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Vernon went off to the lumpy bed in the other room and Harry was left to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket in a corner of the floor.

Lily scowled first, then felt herself softening and blew Harry a kiss which she knew he would never catch way down there in that little shack on that rock in the middle of the ocean.

As the storm raged on all around him, Harry twisted and turned in his bed, still wide awake.

Lily saw him looking at the lighted dial of Dudley's wristwatch which informed him that it was nearly midnight.

BOOM!

**Thank you so much for reading this and please leave a review! Also, for anyone who is a Remus/Tonks fan, I have read a really cute and funny story about them called It All Started With A Fall, and the author, rebma89 has asked me to tell you guys about it, so please check it out if you can.**

**Once again, thank you so much for reading and please leave a review :) :) :)**


	6. Good Old Hagrid

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

**A/N: Thanks so much to elijahlover, Angielima, Books are air, rebma89, thatnerdnextdoor1, fairer3333, and ginnypotter7491 for reviewing the previous chapter! **

There was a knock at the door.

BOOM! The knock came again.

Dudley's eyes bolted open. "Where's the cannon?"

There was a crash behind them and Vernon came skidding into the room. In his hands was a long thin rifle.

Lily gasped audibly.

"Lils, is that a gun?" James questioned incredulously.

Lily nodded. "Yeah. A rifle."

"Who's there? I warn you - I'm armed!" He bellowed angrily.

After a slight hesitation the door was smashed down, landing with a deafening crash, flat on the floor.

In walked, none other than Rubeus Hagrid.

"Hagrid!" Lily shrieked with delight. "James! Hagrid's there! Oh, I'm so excited, surely Harry's life will begin to pick up from here.

Hagrid's head brushed the top of the ceiling as he forced his way through the doorway and into the tiny hut.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey . . ."

James grinned. "Good old Hagrid. Gotta love that guy."

Hagrid strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.

"Budge up, yeh great lump."

Dudley let out a squeal of fear and dashed over to hide behind his mother, who was curled up in terror, hidden behind the large frame of her husband.

"An' here's Harry!" Hagrid beamed. Harry looked rather bewildered.

"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," he said, looking quite pleased with himself. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes."

Vernon emitted a strangled choke before attempting to shade his fear. "I demand that you leave at once, sir! You are breaking and entering!"

"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune."

James clapped, "he's great."

He reached over the back of the sofa, extracted the gun from Vernon's hands and bent it into a knot as though it had been made of rubber. He threw it into the corner of the room.

Vernon made another funny noise.

"Anyway - Harry, a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here - I mighta sat on it at some point but it'll taste all right."

From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry held it gingerly before opening it. Inside was a large mushed chocolate cake with the words _Happy Birthday Harry _engraved in green icing.

"How sweet of Hagrid," Lily whispered softly. "Our baby's first real birthday cake. The first one that he'll remember at least. I doubt he'll ever remember the party we threw him for his first birthday."

"First real birthday cake," James repeated.

"I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind," Hagrid was saying from down below.

His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; it was unclear what he was doing down there but when he emerged a second later, a fire blazed inside it. The whole hut was washed over with light and Harry's tense face instantly relaxed.

Hagrid sat back down on the sofa, perfectly at ease in the little hut, causing it to sink from his weight. He began pulling various things out of his coat pocket: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of Firewhiskey from which he took a swig before starting to make tea.

"It's a wonder how much room there is in his pockets," James commented.

"Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley," Vernon warned.

Hagrid chuckled darkly.

"Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."

He passed a plate of sausages which he had just prepared to Harry, who gobbled it sown hungrily. He was still staring at Hagrid in wonder and confusion. "I'm sorry," he said at last. "But I still don't really know who you are."

"Just wait till Harry finds out where he's from!" James exclaimed in excitement.

Hagrid gulped down some tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Call me Hagrid, everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts - yeh'll know all about Hogwarts o' course.

"Er - no," said Harry.

Hagrid looked both shocked and appalled.

"Sorry," Harry said quickly, blushing a deep scarlet.

"_Sorry_?" barked Hagrid in rage, whipping around to stare at the Dursleys, all three of whom recoiled into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"

"All what?" Harry asked.

"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered.

"Now wait jus' one second!"

He was now on his feet, towering over the Dursleys, all of whom were pressed against the wall, terror apparent on their faces.

"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at them, "that this boy - this boy! - knows nothin' abou' - about ANYTHING?"

"I know _some _things," said Harry. "I can, you know, do math and stuff."

James and Lily both laughed. "Not what he meant Harry," said Lily, shaking her head.

Hagrid waved his and and said, "about _our _world, I mean. _Your _world. _My _world. _Yer parents' world_."

"What world?"

James's eyes were wide with excitement, "this is it, Lily! He's about to tell him!"

"DURSLEY!" Hagrid boomed.

Vernon muttered something through his shivers of fear.

Hagrid stared intently at Harry as if waiting for Harry to tell him that he knew all about the magical world and this was all just some big joke. "But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said. "I mean, they're _famous. _ You're _famous_."

"What? My mum and dad weren't famous were they?"

"Yeh don' know . . . yeh don' know . . ." Hagrid ran his fingers through his wild hair, his gaze lingering on Harry's curious face.

"Yeh don' know what yeh _are_?"

Vernon's voice suddenly shook the room. "Stop! Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"

"_You _do not get to forbid Hagrid from doing _anything_!" Lily snapped.

Hagrid shot Vernon a look of pure outrage. When he spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage. "You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"

"Kept _what _from me?" said Harry eagerly.

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" Vernon's panicked cry rang through the hut.

Petunia gasped.

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry - yer a wizard."

Lily was beaming with delight. This was it! This was finally it! Harry had just found out that he was a wizard. This was where his real life would begin.

"Hagrid's wit is simply charming," muttered James, nodding his head, impressed.

"I'm a _what_?" gasped Harry.

James laughed. "He's cute." Lily nodded her agreement.

"A wizard o' course," said Hagrid, reclaiming his spot on the couch. "An' a thumpin' good 'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's about time you read yer letter."

Harry pulled out the letter and read it.

"What does it mean, they await my owl?" Harry stammered after a few minutes.

"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping his head to his forehead forcefully. He reached into another of his many coat pockets and a pulled out a ruffled-looking owl, a quill and a roll of parchment. He scribbled a note to Dumbledore, notifying him that he had gotten Harry and would be taking him to buy his things for Hogwarts soon.

He rolled up the note and gave it to the owl, which he threw out into the storm.

"Poor owl, having to deliver messages in such harsh conditions," Lily said sadly.

"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.

"He's not going," he said.

Hagrid grunted.

"I'd like to see a great Muggle like you stop him."

"A what?" questioned Harry, intrigued.

"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."

"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"

"You _knew_?" Harry gasped. "You _knew _I'm a - a wizard?"

"Knew! Shrieked Petunia. "_Knew_! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was?"

Lily closed her eyes to stop the tears that she could feel forming inside of them.

James drew her to his chest. "Shh, it's okay My Little Flower. Don't listen to what she says."

"Petunia and I used to be _sisters, _James. When we were younger we were the best of friends. She _loved _me." Lily said between hiccups.

"Well you know what Lils." Lily looked up at him, her vivid green eyes wide. "I bet that deep down she still does. All of her jealousy and anger is blocking out that love, but I bet it's still in there somewhere. And maybe someday, she'll even find it."

"You really think so?"

James nodded. "I really do. But I don't think it's something she's going to realize anytime soon. We just have to be patient, Lily."

Lily sniffed and straightened up. "You're right. I shouldn't be crying over this. It's stupid. I just have to be patient."

She held his face in her hands and pressed her lips against his. James responded with passion. They stayed that way for a few seconds before Lily whispered, "thank you James."

"No problem. I guess I'm not completely useless for anything other than quidditch and snogging am I?" he said with a grin.

Lily sighed, "no, you most certainly are not."

James suddenly turned serious. "And that's what we do - we help each other through rough times. Remember when we found out about Wormtail . . ."

"I remember," Lily said slowly.

It had been ten years earlier, the third day in Their Little Heaven (as they had now taken to calling it), that Lily had come to a revelation.

"_James, you do realize what this means - us being . . . dead."_

"_What?" James glanced up from his desk where he had been intently studying _Quidditch Through the Ages, _the only book he ever read._

_Lily's voice grew silent and she just shook her head. James stood up and began playing with her dark red hair. Lily's eyes were now brimming with tears, and as she opened her mouth to speak the tears spilled out and began cascading down her face._

_James, however, had seemed to figure out where her thoughts had led before she even said it and he let out a scream of fury._

_The combination of outrage and despair that flashed across her husband's face, was enough to clear Lily's head and bring her tears to a halt._

"_If I ever somehow manage to lay my hands on Wormtail, mark my words he will-"_

"_James, stop." Lily commanded. "I know it hurts. And I know he was our friend. One of our _best _friends. But that doesn't mean he doesn't make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. And everybody deserves a second chance." She was speaking very quietly, trying to remind him of when she had given him a second chance and chosen to go out with him in their seventh year._

_James seemed to get where she was going. "Lily, this is totally different! Because of that little slimeball, we are _dead_. And Harry's life is probably going to be hell."_

"_I know." She was fighting to stay strong for James, so she could comfort him and allow him to stay the person that he always had been. She didn't want James to think that just because Pettigrew had gone and done something awful that he could never trust any of his friends._

_Tear tracks were running down James's face and Lily looked him straight in the eye. "Listen to me, James Potter. Wormtail made a mistake. He was a coward and what he's done is virtually unforgivable. But we're going to have to forgive him nevertheless. You want to know why James? I'll tell you why! It's because that's the kind of people we are. I don't want you holding a grudge against someone you used to call a friend. Because pretty soon, if that happens, you're going to start being the kind of person who _never _forgives people for their mistakes no matter what. You never know James, you never know what was going through his mind when he betrayed us. Maybe his loyalties lie with Voldemort one-hundred percent, and maybe our whereabouts were tortured out of him and he gave in. Wormtail was always a coward, Merlin knows why he was put into Gryffindor. But we have to give him the benefit of the doubt. I don't think we want to be the type of people that always assume the worst of others, do we?"_

_She held James a little bit longer. "I know it hurts. It hurts me too. Hurts terribly. But we can't make it change the kind of people we are. Just because Wormtail took two and gave none, doesn't mean we should always assume that every time our friends mess up they are awful people."_

_James broke away and nodded his head. "Thank you My Little Flower. But none of that changes the fact that Peter Pettigrew is the reason that we're dead."_

"_I know. But there's nothing we can do about that, is there? So we might as well try and make the best of the situation instead of wallowing in sadness and anger towards a man who was once our great friend."_

"_Thank you." James repeated._

Lily was snapped back to the present a moment later when James said. "See. So you helped me find the light in my situation, and now I'm helping you do the same."

"Shall we now return to the scheduled program?" he motioned towards the little hut in the world below.

Lily grinned. "I think that's a good idea."

Hagrid was now speaking. "Gilpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went . . . bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was . . ."

Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.

"Hagrid . . ." James tutted. "Dumbledore always says - 'fear of a name will increase fear of the thing itself'"

"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.

"Nah - can't spell it. All right - _Voldemort."_

"There you go Hagrid," said James, "was that really so hard?"

Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway this - this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin fer followers. Got 'em too - some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches . . . terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him - an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.

"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew."

"Thank you Hagrid." Lily beamed.

"Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-KNow-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before . . . probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.

"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em . . . maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' - an' -"

Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose audibly.

Lily and James too, saddened, knowing what was to come next in Hagrid's tale.

"Sorry," said Hagrid, "but it's sad - knew yer mum an' dad an' nicer people yeh couln'e find - anyway . . ."

Lily and James smiled at each other.

"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then - an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing - he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Ever wondered how you got that that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh - took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house even - but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age - the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts - an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."

Lily saddened a bit when Hagrid mentioned Marlene and her family being killed.

"Took yeh from the ruined house myself," Hagrid continued, "on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot . . ."

"Load of old tosh," Vernon piped up, causing Harry to jump.

His fists were clenched and his face twisted as he snarled at Harry, "now you listen here, boy, I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured."

Lily gasped in horror at Vernon's threat and James snarled.

"And as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion."

Lily clenched her fists and James shouted, "no one asked for your opinion on the matter!"

"Asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types - just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end -"

Hagrid cut him off by leaping off of the sofa and drawing the pink umbrella he used as a wand from inside his long overcoat.

He pointed it at Vernon and narrowed his eyes. "I'm warning you, Dursley - I'm warning you - one more word . . ."

Vernon flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.

"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and returning to his seat.

"But what happened to Vol-, sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?"

"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest mist'ry, see . . . he was gettin' more an' more powerful - why'd he go?

"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human laft in him to die.

"Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back to ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.

"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on - _I _dunno what it was, no one does - but somethin' about you stumped him all right."

"Hagrid," said Harry quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."

Hagrid laughed.

"Not a wizard eh? Never make things happen when you were scared or angry?"

Harry looked over to the fire for a while, pondering. Finally, he returned to Hagrid's face, locking eyes with him. Now, however, Harry was smiling brightly, causing his bright brilliant eyes to twinkle.

Hagrid was beaming. "See? Harry Potter, not a wizard - you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."

Harry was still smiling. Lily could only imagine what must be going through his mind. She was so excited! She could hardly believe it! Harry now knew he was a wizard! He would be off to Hogwarts very soon.

To the contrary, Vernon did not seem altogether very please. "Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish - spell books and wands and -"

"If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid.

"You tell him, Hagrid," James cheered.

"Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled-"

"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" Vernon roared.

James raised an eyebrow. "That's not going to end well for Vernon." Lily agreed. Hagrid positively idolized Dumbledore, he would not stand for Vernon to speak that way about him.

Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his his head, "NEVER - INSULT - ALBUS DUMBLEDORE - IN - FRONT - OF - ME!" He waved the umbrella downwards to point at Dudley, with a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, and a sharp squeal, Dudley began dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling with pain. He turned around to reveal a curly pig's tail sprouting through his trousers.

James howled with laughter. "That's amazing!"

Lily laughed along with him for some time, then commented, "but he really shouldn't have done that. He could get into trouble."

Vernon growled. He pulled Petunia and Dudley behind him into the other room, cast one terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.

Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.

"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was already so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."

Laughter rang out once again from where Lily and James were seated. It took them a few moments to calm down causing them to miss the next few remarks.

"Oh, well - I was at Hogwarts meself," Hagrid said, "but I - er - got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."

"Why were you expelled?"

"Well that's a rather personal question," Lily scolded.

"I always _have _wanted to find that out though," James admitted.

"It's gettin' late an' we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid in an attempt to dodge the question. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."

He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.

"You can kip under that," he said, "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' doormice in one o' the pockets."

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review :)**


	7. First Venture Into the Wizarding World

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

**A/N: Thanks so much to dance4ever95 and rebma89 who reviewed the previous chapter!**

Harry sat up in his makeshift bed and Hagrid's coat fell off of him. The hut was sunlit, the previous night's storm having passed. Hagrid was lying asleep on the sofa and an owl was tapping its claw on the window, holding a newspaper in its beak.

Harry scrambled to his feet, grinning from ear to ear, obviously remembering the night's events. He walked towards the window and yanked it open.

The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on Hagrid's head. Hagrid did not stir. The owl then fluttered to the floor and began viciously pecking Hagrid's heavy coat.

"Don't do that," said Harry, attempting to wave it out of the way, but it snapped its beak at him and returned to attacking the coat.

"Hagrid!" called Harry. "There's an owl-"

"Pay him," Hagrid grunted.

"What?"

"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."

James chuckled as Harry stuck his hand into pocket after pocket of the long overcoat, pulling out random objects and flashing a range of expressions, before eventually, pulling out a handful of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts.

"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid with a yawn.

"Knuts?"

"The little bronze ones."

Harry put the money in the small leather pouch tied to the owl's leg. The owl flew out the open window and soared through the sky in the distance.

Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.

"Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."

"Ooh! Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley!" Lily squealed. "This is so exciting. I remember how in awe I was when I went shopping for my stuff for school there for the very first time.

James grinned, "every venture into a place that's entirely magical is special. Even if you grow up in a magical family."

Lily nodded, "some things you just don't get used to so easily."

"Don't worry about that," Hagrid was now saying to Harry inside the little hut. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"

"But if their house was destroyed-"

"They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold - an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."

"Wizards have _banks_?"

"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."

Harry's eyes widened and he dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.

"_Goblins_?

"All the magical creatures are a bit of a shock at first," Lily said admittedly.

"Yeah - so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe - 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business. He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you - gettin' things from Gringotts - knows he can trust me see."

"He's smart to trust you Hagrid," said Lily with a kind smile.

"I agree," said James. "He's also pretty funny, Hagrid is. You know, making sure Harry knew how tight the Gringotts security was. Like Hagrid expects Harry to try and rob it or something."

Lily laughed.

Harry was now following Hagrid out onto the large rock. The storm had passed, leaving a clear sky and sunlight in its path. The boat Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom from the storm.

"How did you get here?" Harry asked curiously, looking around for some method of transportation Hagrid could have used.

"Flew," Hagrid replied.

"_Flew_?"

"Yeah - but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh.

"Seems a shame ter row though," Hagrid continued, with a glance at Harry. "If I was ter - er - speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"

"Oh Hagrid . . ." Lily shook her head.

"Of course not," Harry lit up with excitement once again at the prospect of witnessing his new friend perform magic.

Hagrid drew his pink umbrella once again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off towards land.

"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.

"Spells - enchantments," Hagrid unfolded his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons gaurdin' the high security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way - Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."

"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page of _The Daily Prophet, _which he was reading.

"There's a ministry of Magic?" Harry asked.

"'Course," came the reply from his companion. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister o' 'course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one."

Lily and James scowled. They had heard about the new Minister a couple of years ago (they did not witness him being made Minister first-hand, because they had been watching Harry in the Muggle world, but hears from others in other Little Heavens and were none too pleased about it.)

"So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."

"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?"

"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."

"Why?"

"Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."

With a pang of nostalgia, Lily thought of Petunia, and how they used to be the very best of friends. That is, until Petunia found out about Lily's being a witch - she had wanted absolutely _nothing _to do with Lily.

The boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid refolded the newspaper, and the two clambered up the stone steps onto the street.

Hagrid attracted a lot of attention from Muggle onlookers as they walked through the little town to the station.

Hagrid moved quite fast; Harry had to run to keep up.

"Hagrid," said the little boy, "did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?"

"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon." Hagrid was probably the only person Lily knew, who could make a proclamation such as that one in such a casual, conversational manner.

"You'd _like_ one?" Harry's vivid green eyes widened with surprise.

"Wanted one ever since I was a kid - here we go."

They had reached the station. There was a train to London leaving in five minutes' time. Hagrid let Harry sort out the Muggle money so that they could buy the tickets.

On the train, Hagrid attracted even more attention from the Muggles; taking up two seats and knitting something large and canary-yellow. Lily could not even fathom what it was meant to be.

"Still got yer letter, Harry?" Hagrid asked as he counted stitches.

Harry brought the parchment envelope out of his pocket.

"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."

Harry unfolded the list and inspected it briefly.

"Can we buy all this in London?" he asked in wonder.

"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.

Hagrid got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow, though he did seem to know where he was going.

"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he grumbled as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.

They walked on for some time before Hagrid brought them to an abrupt halt in front of the Leaky Cauldron.

"This is it," he said, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place.

They entered the pub.

"Ah, the Leaky Cauldron," said James with a grin, "it's like the threshold to the magical world."

The low buzz of chatter died down as soon as they entered. Tom, the barman, as well as many others, waved at Hagrid upon his entrance.

Tom reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"

"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder proudly.

"Good Lord," Tom looked astonished as he peered at Harry, "is this - can this be-?"

The pub fell silent.

"Bless my soul," Tom seemed to be in awe, "Harry Potter . . . what an honor."

Lily couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips that the magical world was so welcoming of Harry.

He dashed out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.

"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."

Harry was looking every which was. Suddenly, people were standing up right and left, all wanting to shake the hand of the Boy Who Lived, each introducing themselves, and some even coming back for seconds or thirds or even more, to shake Harry's hand.

One man that Harry met was named Professor Quirrell, who, according to Hagrid would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts that year at Hogwarts.

"Nervous much?" James scoffed. Quirrell had an annoying stutter to his voice.

Eventually, Hagrid managed to get Harry away from them all and make himself heard over all the commotion.

"Must get on - lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."

Doris Crockford, a middle-aged witch who had already done so thrice, shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.

Hagrid grinned at Harry.

"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh - mind you, he's usually tremblin'."

Lily beamed, "I'm glad Harry's getting some positive attention for once. I just hope it doesn't get to his head."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want him to end up like me," James admitted. "Then he'll never get the girl he loves to even acknowledge him as a friend until his head finally deflates."

"Well I think that if our son ends up like you, then I'll be very proud. The way you may have acted as a teenager is no indication of what a great man you are today."

James smiled and pecked her lightly on the lips. "Thanks, Lils."

Hagrid had just opened up the archway to Diagon Alley.

He turned to Harry. "Welcome to Diagon Alley."

Harry's face was blazing with amazement and wonder as he tried to take it in all at once.

"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," Hagrid commented, noticing where Harry's curious eyes had wondered over to a stack of cauldrons outside of a shop, "but we gotta get yer money first."

The two walked on until Hagrid said, "Gringotts," coming to a halt in front of the wizarding bank.

"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid in answer to the questioning look plastered upon Harry's face.

They walked up the stone steps towards the goblin. He bowed as they walked inside where they faced a pair of silver doors engraved with the poem Lily, as well as the rest of the magical world, was familiar with, warning thieves against attempting to steal from a Gringotts vault.

"Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and into a vast marble hall filled with hundreds of goblins performing various jobs. Harry followed Hagrid to the counter.

"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."

"You have his key, sir?"

"Got it here somewhere," Hagrid began emptying his pockets, searching for the key.

"Got it," he said at last, holding up the tiny golden key.

The goblin inspected it closely.

"That seems to be in order."

"An' I've got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," Hagrid said importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."

"Oh no," Lily shook her head. "Harry will probably be curious about what's in the vault and whatever it is, I want him staying away from it - it's probably dangerous.

"Very well," said the goblin, handing the letter back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"

Once Hagrid restuffed his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook the goblin toward one of the doors leading off the hall.

"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.

"Can't tell yeh that," Hagrid replied. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."

Griphook held the door open for them and whistled for a small cart which came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in - Hagrid with some difficulty - and were off.

They twisted and turned through the passages in a route familiar to Lily and James, though neither of them could ever replicate it on their own - no witch or wizard could find a Gringotts vault without the help of a Gringotts goblin.

"I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"

"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions now, I think I'm gonna be sick."

Lily giggled.

"What?" asked James. "That's what I would have said. Well, besides for the part about being sick."

Lily rolled her eyes.

When the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.

Griphook unlocked the door. After the green smoke cleared and Harry got a good view of the contents of his vault, he gasped audibly.

"All yours," smiled Hagrid.

Harry was still blinking and looking around in wonder, still digesting the fact that he had so much money now. So many Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts.

"The gold ones are Galleons," Hagrid explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe fer yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"

"One speed only," said Griphook curtly.

Lily sighed, "poor Hagrid.

Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.

"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.

"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.

"How often so you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked. Lily had been wondering the same thing.

"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a sly grin.

Inside the vault was nothing but a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor.

Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat.

"That's it?" James demanded. "Just a little brown paper bag? That's the all important object that Hagrid's getting for Dumbledore?"

"Sometimes good things come in small packages, James," noted his wife.

"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. He and Harry were now standing outside of the bank. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldrom? I hate them Gringotts carts."

Harry consented and entered Madam Malkin's shop shyly, unaccompanied by Hagrid.

"Hogwarts, dear?" she asked, upon his entrance. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop, a pale, pointed-faced boy was standing on a footstool, a second witch pinning up his long black robes.

Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.

"Looks like Lucius Malfoy," James muttered.

Lily groaned, "I never liked him. I could tell even with such an age gap between us during our Hogwarts years that he was no good. And then, lo and behold he runs straight to Voldemort as soon as he has that chance."

"Hullo," said the pointed-faced boy, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes," said Harry simply.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," he drawled. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully Father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

"What a brat!" Lily exclaimed.

"Have _you _got your own broom?" the boy went on.

"No," said Harry.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No," Harry repeated with a look of embarrassment and confusion.

"Poor baby," said Lily. "He must feel so lost."

"_I_ do," said the blond boy. "Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No," Harry blushed deeply.

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff!" Lily cried indignantly. She knew plenty of perfectly lovely people from that house.

"Yeah," James scoffed, "I'd certainly rather be put there than in _Slytherin_. That kid is either really wacked up or from some old prejudiced pureblood family. I'd guess the latter."

Lily nodded, "me too. Most likely a Malfoy based on his looks and what he's said."

"Oh," the other boy was now saying, evidently referring to Hagrid who was waiting by the window with an ice cream for Harry. "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"No he's not!" cried both Potters from Their Little Heaven.

"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of _savage _- lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

Lily and James were positively seething in anger at this point. How dare this boy insult their friend like that? He'd never even met Hagrid!

"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.

Lily beamed with pride, "you go Harry! You tell him! Don't let this _taker _take away from your giving."

James grinned, "are we still doing this give two take none thing, Lils?"

Lily blinked at him, "yes, of course. Now shush," she brought her finger to her lips to silence him. "I want to hear what happens next.

The pale boy was now speaking. "I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname anyway.

James punched the air in outrage. "I can't believe it! Never listen to people like _that_, My Little Flower," he spat. "You were the best in our year!"

Lily smiled, "thanks, James."

Madam Malkin had already ushered Harry out and he was now eating the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).

He was rather quiet, and Hagrid seemed to notice.

Lily frowned as her heart went out to her little boy down there. James wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to him wordlessly.

"What's up?" Hagrid asked kindly and Lily smiled in gratitude to the half-giant.

"Nothing," Harry lied.

They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. Lily was glad for that. When they had left the shop, he asked, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"

"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know - not knowin' about Quidditch!"

James jumped up and down excitedly, dragging Lily with him as he had not released his grip on her. "Please tell him Hagrid! Harry is _seriously _missing out not knowing what Quidditch is."

Lily brought her lips to his to silence him. James pulled her closer to him immediately and kissed her passionately.

"Yer not _from _a Muggle family." Hagrid was now saying. "If he'd known who yeh _were _- he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles - look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"

"Damn right Hagrid!" cried James with pride, and at the same time Lily said quietly, "thank you, Hagrid for cheering Harry up like that."

"-played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls - sorta hard ter explain the rules."

"Dammit," James shook his head, "I think we missed part of Hagrid's explanation about Quidditch."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You _know_ how to play Quidditch already, James! You don't need Hagrid to teach you."

James opened his mouth to speak but Lily cut him off, "and watch your language, Potter!"

James grinned cockily. "Sure, Mrs. Prongs."

"You-Know-Who was one," said Hagrid.

"Vol-, sorry - You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"

"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.

They purchased Harry's school books in Flourish and Blotts where Harry seemed quite interested in some of the merchandise; namely _Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) _by Professor Vindictus Viridan.

"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley," he explained.

Neither of his parents could help but burst into a fit of laughter at that, though they both knew that that wasn't something Harry should try.

"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level.

They purchased all of the necessary equipment, and then visited the Apothecary to buy Harry's Potions ingrediants.

Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.

"Just yer wand left - ah yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."

Harry blushed scarlet.

"You don't have to-"

"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at - an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful carry yer mail an' everythin'."

Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium with the most beautiful owl Lily had ever seen. She was a Snowy and was currently fast asleep with her head under her wing.

He continuously thanked Hagrid. Lily smiled at his good manners.

"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now - only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand.

Lily and James could tell that this was what Harry had really been looking forward to - it's what all kids most looked forward to about joining the magical world.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside Ollivanders.

"Good afternoon," said the soft voice of Mr. Ollivander. Harry jumped, and as did Hagrid, the latter of which caused a loud crunching noise.

The old man's eyes were wide and gleaming through the gloom of the shop.

"Hello," Harry stammered awkwardly.

"Ah yes," said Ollivander. "Yes, yes. I though I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

Lily smiled brightly.

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry, his unblinking silver eyes staring directly into Harry's brilliant green ones.

"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and Excellent for Transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it - it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Ollivander was now practically nose to nose with Harry. Harry seemed slightly taken aback.

Ollivander brought a long white finger to Harry's forehead, touching the jagged lightning shaped scar upon it. "And that's where . . ."

Lily gulped. Mr. Ollivander had always been rather creepy.

"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," continued the old man, in a voice barely above a whisper. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands . . . well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do . . ." He shook his head and then apparently spotted Hagrid (though Lily wondered how he could not have noticed Hagrid up until then, but have seen Harry quite clearly, even though Harry was less than half Hagrid's size).

"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid!" the wandmaker exclaimed. "How nice to see you again . . . Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it."

"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.

"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" Mr. Ollivander's tone suddenly turned stern, his face disapproving.

"Er - yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, looking as though he'd rather not have a conversation such as that one with a man such as Mr. Ollivander. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added in an attempt to make the situation less awkward.

"But you don't use them?" demanded Ollivander sharply.

"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly.

"Hmmm," said Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now - Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Er - well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.

"Hold out your arm. That's it."

He performed various measurements all over Harry's body. As he did so, he explained: "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Ollivander left the tape measurer to measure the space between Harry's nose by itself, and began taking down wand boxes from shelves.

"That will do," he said, and the tape measurer crumpled into a heap in the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave." Harry took the wand, and waved it around a bit with a slightly abashed look upon his face. Mr. Ollivander snatched it away almost at once.

He handed Harry another one. "Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try-" Harry tried - but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Ollivander.

"No, no - here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out." Again, the wand did not choose Harry.

Harry tried wand after wand but none seemed to be working. Harry seemed to be discouraged, but Ollivander only became more and more excited with each failed trial.

"Tricky customer, eh?" he said. "Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." Harry took the wand from its maker tentatively.

The effect was instant. Harry's fingers as well as his face relaxed and he broke out into a wide smile. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.

Lily and James beamed at each other. They both knew that this wand was the right one. This wand would be Harry's magical companion for the rest of his life.

Hagrid clapped happily, and Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, ver good. Well, well, well . . . how curious . . . how very curious . . ."

Lily frowned. What did he mean by that?

He put Harry's new wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious . . . curious . . ."

"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"

Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave you that scar.

Lily felt her eyes widen in shock and James appeared confused.

"Well that's . . . strange," she said, pushing her dark red hair back.

James nodded. "Yes, very strange indeed. But it doesn't change who Harry is just because his wand and Voldemort's are . . . to use Ollivander's term . . . brothers. It's just, well, like you said, it's just strange."

She nodded in agreement. Of course.

Harry paid seven Galleons for his wand and Ollivander bowed them from his shop.

Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, and back through the (now empty) Leaky Cauldron. Harry was in a daze as they walked down the road and did not even appear to notice the stares he was receiving from the various packages and magical items he had from Diagon Alley.

He and Hagrid went up another escalator, out into Paddington station.

Hagrid tapped Harry on the shoulder. "Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.

He kindly bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around.

"You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.

Harry hesitated for a while. "Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last.

Lily frowned at that. He _was _special after all.

Harry continued. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander . . . but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry - I mean, the night my parents died."

Lily softened at that and saddened. James drew her into his chest and she snuggled into him.

Hagrid leaned across the table. He smiled sweetly at Harry.

"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts - I did - still do, 'smatter of fact."

Lily brightened greatly. Hagrid's words were most likely the kindest words she had ever heard spoken to her son since he had gone to live with the Dursleys.

James beamed, "you can count on Hagrid to cheer everyone up when they're down."

Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to Privet Drive, then handed him an envelope.

"Yer ticket fer Hogwarts," he said. "First o' September - King's Cross - it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me . . . See yeh soon, Harry.

The train pulled away from the station.

"Well that was simply splendid!" James remarked.

"Yeah," said Lily. "Our son's first experience in the wizarding world was great! I'm glad he'll be able to have so much fun now." She beamed and James beamed back.

The messy haired man opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Both Lily, and James whipped around quickly to see who was there.

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading this chapter! Please please please leave a review :)**


	8. Various Opinions On the Evans Sisters

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

**A/N: Thank you so much to ginnypotter7491, Books are air, daniellover1, Loves to read books, rebma89, and dance4ever95 for reviewing the previous chapter!**

**Here's the next one. I hope you like it :)**

"Lily?" said a familiar, soft voice tentatively. "Lily, can I come in?"

The door creaked open.

"_Mum?_"

"Yes, hello, Lily, dear." She smiled at her daughter and gave James a kind nod.

James's expression was blank. Lily nudged him with her elbow. "Uh, hello Mrs. Evans."

"Hello, James."

"So, what brings you here, Mum? Is everything all right?"

"Yes, Lily dear, everything is just fine. I just . . . well . . . I wanted to have a chat with you about something if you wouldn't mind, Lily."

"Of course."

Mrs. Evans motioned for Lily to follow her and the younger woman did so.

Lily walked in silence behind her mother, as the latter walked at a brisk pace down the lines of doors until reaching her own. She gently opened the door and gestured for Lily to enter.

Lily's father waved to her from where he had been studying a book.

"Hi, Dad."

"Lily," her mother caught her attention once more. "Lily, dear, there is something of vital importance that I believe the three of us must discuss now."

"What about James?"

Her mother shrugged, "you can tell him about our conversation when you two are reunited if you wish. But I thought we would speak now, just the three of us."

Mr. Evans walked over and wrapped an arm around his wife.

Mrs. Evans took a deep breath. "Lily, we wanted to talk with you about-"

"Petunia," Lily cut her off.

"Well, yes, but how- how did you?"

"I knew you would want to have this conversation with me sometime soon." Lily sighed. "We've sort of been dancing around the topic ever since we spoke for the first time up here. It's okay though. I'm ready to hear what you have to say. But I can't say that I'm going to necessarily agree with it."

"We know, sweetheart." Mrs. Evans gave her daughter a kind smile.

"Lily, we know that you and Petunia had some differences growing up once you found out about being a witch. And we know that the way that she and her family have been treating your son-" she gulped, "-our grandson, is inexcusable. So, we know that you have every right in the world to be mad at her and hate her - you know what, we're furious with her too - but please just remember that she's your sister.

"I remember how close the two of you used to be: the best of friends; inseparable. I know that you loved her. And frankly Lily, I know that you still do. And I know that she loved you so much - more than anything. So, Lily, frankly I think that deep down, buried beneath all that jealousy, she still does. Please, never forget that."

Lily thought about all of this for a moment, then offered each of her parents a smile. "Thanks Mum, Dad." She turned and reached for the door, "I ought to be getting back to James now." She gave each of her parents a tight hug before exiting Their Little Heaven and returning to the hall where she was, once again, faced with countless doors.

But Lily did not return straight to James. Instead, she first made another stop. She wanted to consult a girlfriend before informing James of what her parents had told her.

She knocked on the heavy door, "Marlene, can I come in? It's Lily."

Marlene opened up the door for her friend and they both plopped themselves down onto plush chairs.

"So, what brings you here today, Lils? Come for some advice?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "What makes you think you're my psychologist?" All through their school years and even after, Lily and her other friends had somehow found themselves going to Marlene for advice more than absolutely necessary between friends. Marlene was just good at giving advice to the other girls. "But yes. I'd like your opinion on something if you don't mind, Marls?"

"Certainly." Marlene picked up a scrap of parchment and a quill and began dramatically scribbling gibberish onto the parchment.

"Oh, just stop it with the charades, will you, Marlene!" Lily snatched away both the parchment and quill and forced her friend to face her.

"Right. Sorry. What was that you wanted to tell me, Lily dear?"

"Thank you." Lily explained everything that her parents had said regarding Petunia.

Marlene listened as Lily spoke. That was another good thing about Marlene; she was a good listener.

Finally, when Lily finished speaking, Marlene's eyes softened and she gave Lily a kind smile. "Look, I know it's hard when your sister isn't being a sister to you. And you don't have to act like everything is alright when it so clearly isn't. You can be mad at Petunia for everything that she's done to you and Harry. But, just, like your mother said, just never forget that she's your sister and that she loves you, even if it seems like the only emotion she feels towards you is hatred."

Lily smiled warmly at her friend.

"And I know Harry can handle it."

Lily nodded. Harry certainly could handle it. But that didn't make anything that Petunia did or said to him okay.

The two girls hugged warmly and Lily continued on her way back to her own Little Heaven.

When she opened her door, it was to find James looking expectantly at her. "How's my favorite Little Flower?"

Lily beamed. She couldn't help it when James was so cheery like that.

She threw herself into his arms and kissed him tenderly. James, though surprised, reacted fondly and moved his lips along with her. The kiss was sweet; pure.

"So what did your parental units have to say?" James asked lightly when they broke apart.

"They wanted to talk about Petunia . . ."

"Oh."

"Basically, what I got out of today is just not to forget that she's still my sister and she still loves me, even if it doesn't seem that way. Though now I think about it, that means nothing if she doesn't love Harry, which as evidence of the past ten years shows, is an affirmative on the not loving part."

James nodded, "well, I suppose only time will tell. Who knows, maybe she'll regret her actions eventually. But until then, I don't think we can act like she's sorry when we know she's not. If, at some point in the future, Petunia does apologize to Harry, then I think we can forgive her. But for now, I don't think our opinion of her can change based solely on your conversation with your parents. Though I really appreciate them trying to bring your family closer together - family's one of the most important things in the world - but your family can't be brought closer together without the consent of every family member, and that includes Petunia. So . . ."

Lily nodded, not needing to hear more.

"You know I love you Lily, right?"

Lily laughed, "well I would hope you weren't lying to me every day since third year."

"Actually, I never told you I loved you until we were actually dating. I've been asking you out since third year though, so you do have that part right."

Lily rolled her eyes. "And you know, I love you, James, don't you? You know that you and Harry are my whole world, right?

"Hmm," James said thoughtfully. "What if I were to say that I _didn't _know you loved me? Then what would you do?"

"Well, first I'd smack you across the face for being such an idiot." James laughed. "And then I'd do this."

Lily leaned towards her husband and their lips met once more; exploding with the fiery passion of their love.

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading this! Please leave a review :)**


	9. The Final Dursley Day

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

**A/N: Thanks so much to dance4ever95, daniellover1, and rebma89 for reviewing the previous chapter!**

**Wow! It's been so long! I know that I have not updated in like forever, and I'm really really **_**really **_**sorry about that, I've just been really busy lately, please forgive me! **

**Here's the next chapter :) I hope you like it and please please please please **_**please **_**leave a review and let me know whether or not you did.**

XOXOXOXO

_And so, James and I returned to our normal routine of watching Harry's life play out in front of us. I was getting very anxious for him to _finally _get to Hogwarts, and I know James was as well. Thankfully, Harry only had one month left with the Dursleys. Only one month left with that woman I call a sister and her family filled with takers and hugely lacking givers._

XOXOXOOXOXO

Looking down on it, both Lily and James could blatantly see that their son was not much enjoying his final weeks with his last living relatives and they were excited for him to get to Hogwarts. Lily envisioned all the wonderful friends he would make. All the fun and exciting (though not _too _exciting, she hoped) adventures he would go on, and the mystical and beautiful magic he would soon have the great opportunity to learn.

She could hardly wait!

Lily gripped James's hand tightly, "I'm so happy for him, James! He's finally going to go! It's almost the 1st of September!"

James found it hilarious that Dudley was now deathly afraid of Harry, and refused to be in the same room as him, probably wondering what Harry would do to him, thinking of that lovely pig's tail he had acquired from Harry's new dear friend, Hagrid.

Petunia and Vernon were also acting differently to Harry now. They no longer shouted at him, locked him in his cupboard - Lily shuddered at the mere thought of Harry being stuck in that cramped, spider-infested little place - or forced him to do anything anymore.

In fact, they had no interaction with him anymore whatsoever.

Whether out of fury or terror, Lily did not know, but the Dursleys, for better or for worse, were pointedly avoiding Harry Potter.

Harry remained in his room most of the time, with his new owl, Hedwig, (as he had named her based off of a name he had found in his new textbook _A History of Magic_) for company. Hedwig proved to be not just a beautiful owl, but a sweet and loyal one too.

To James's disgust, and Lily's delight, Harry seemed to find his school books very interesting, and was often engrossed in reading them.

On the last day of August, it seemed to occur to Harry that he would need Vernon to drive him to the train station, in order to get to Hogwarts.

He approached Vernon and Petunia in the living room where they and Dudley were watching a quiz show on television.

Harry cleared his throat loudly to warn the Dursleys of his arrival. To James's immense amusement, Dudley emitted a loud shriek and fled the room.

"Er - Uncle Vernon?" asked Harry, a little awkwardly.

Vernon grunted, acknowledging Harry's presence.

"Er - I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to - to go to Hogwarts."

Vernon grunted once more.

"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"

Another grunt. Harry seemed to take that as a yes.

"Thank you."

He had just reached the foot of the steps when Vernon actually spoke.

"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"

Harry did not respond.

James shook his head at Vernon's ignorance.

"Where is this school, anyway?"

"I don't know," said Harry, as it dawned on him that he really didn't.

"Somewhere in Scotland," Lily whispered, not being able to resist the urge to answer the question.

"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.

His aunt and uncle stared.

"Platform what?"

"Nine and three-quarters."

Lily opened her mouth. "Wha- but surely Petunia remembers? She wouldn't forget platform nine and three-quarters! That was the spot that . . ." Lily felt her voice crack and she finished the sentence in her head. _The spot where our friendship officially ended._

James held her tightly. Neither said a word for a moment, before Lily regained her composure and they returned to Harry, who was now speaking.

"Why are you going to London?" Harry asked in a friendly tone.

"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings.

The sound of James's bark of laughter at that remark was enough to cheer Lily up completely. She loved that laugh. And him being who he was, she had the privilege of hearing it quite often.

XOXOXOOXO

_Tomorrow. That's it. Just one more day. One more day until platform nine and three-quarters. Just one more day until I get to watch my son go to Hogwarts._

XOXOXOO

**A/N: Okay, so, I know this chapter was incredibly short, but I decided to split this chapter of the actual series into two, so I can get this posted. Sorry again for the wait! I hoped you liked this chapter (despite how short it was) and please review!**


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